Organize Fonts?

Hi all! I use CS5. When I click on the Text tool and then go to the dropdown box to pick the font, they are all mixed up and I spend way too much time trying to look through them. I have figured out how to make the preview larger (that really helps). Is there a way to group them? Grunge--Type---Script etc? Also, I have foreign fonts in there and not sure how to get rid of them.

I came over, too to see what others had to say. I know what you mean about scrolling through so many fonts. I have windows 7 and the font display (on the control panel) is a little easier to read, there are a few categories, the foreign fonts are grayed out so they are easier to skip. I think there was a discussion on font organizers some time ago, but I don't remember any details.

I think it's awfully hard to try and manage fonts through your graphics program. I use a separate font manager. The font manager I like the best is Main Type. It's a bit pricey - $60. Sometimes it becomes the feature product of Bits du Jour which I picked up for $29. Bits du Jour is a 24hr software sale site. They run extremely reduced deals for one day only. Sometimes the deals are simply amazing - especially if you are looking for something pricey.

Anyway.. back to the font manager. What I especially like about this one is that you can create "groups" of fonts that you can turn on and off but not keep installed. The font would be loaded until you rebooted. You can also install/uninstall directly from it (so you'd be able to get rid of fonts you don't want in that list). It has a nice view window to see the font - but I think most font manager's have that. I just really like that you can load fonts in a group. Your software program should run better when you don't have a zillion fonts installed.

I believe there are free managers too. Just google "free font manager" and you'll find a bunch.

Prior to changing to MainType, I used The Font Thing which I thought was awesome. It's free. The developer did not continue to update it so it doesn't work with Vista 64 which is what I have. So I couldn't use it anymore. You can download that one on CNet.

I think it's awfully hard to try and manage fonts through your graphics program. I use a separate font manager. The font manager I like the best is Main Type. It's a bit pricey - $60. Sometimes it becomes the feature product of Bits du Jour which I picked up for $29. Bits du Jour is a 24hr software sale site. They run extremely reduced deals for one day only. Sometimes the deals are simply amazing - especially if you are looking for something pricey.

Anyway.. back to the font manager. What I especially like about this one is that you can create "groups" of fonts that you can turn on and off but not keep installed. The font would be loaded until you rebooted. You can also install/uninstall directly from it (so you'd be able to get rid of fonts you don't want in that list). It has a nice view window to see the font - but I think most font manager's have that. I just really like that you can load fonts in a group. Your software program should run better when you don't have a zillion fonts installed.

I believe there are free managers too. Just google "free font manager" and you'll find a bunch.

Prior to changing to MainType, I used The Font Thing which I thought was awesome. It's free. The developer did not continue to update it so it doesn't work with Vista 64 which is what I have. So I couldn't use it anymore. You can download that one on CNet.

Hope this helps!

Jen, yes, this helps a ton! I now know where to start. I will check the information you posted. Thanks so much for taking the time to reply